"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"

Homestay, CCA, or Own Housing?

All new students need to decide where to stay during their study at Green River Community College. Technically, Green River offers two housing options: Homestay and CCA (Campus Corner Apartments). If any of you have wondered about where to stay, which housing options is better, advantages and disadvantages of each housing options, then you have come to the right blog entry. I came to Green River in the of fall 2013 and stayed in CCA as my first housing option, then decided to move to a homestay in June 2014.

Briefly, CCA is an apartment on the college campus. The advantages of living in CCA are: the community, distance, and safety. The community, it is the first thing that is the most advantageous of living at CCA that is not offered in other housing option. Since CCA is an on-campus apartment, there are roughly 350 students living in the area and of course you will meet a lot of international students during your walk to class. It’s different from homestay because one homestay has fewer students living in the home. Most host families have one international student living with them, but some have two or three students. Distance will never be a problem for students living in CCA; students come back and forth from their class to CCA on their break. Imagine walking to the nearest bus stop, which is right in front of library, in less than 5 minutes. In addition to the community and the distance, CCA is also a very safe place to live; there’s always one campus safety officer who walks around the campus apartment every one or two hours, especially when it is dark.

The second housing option is homestay. The advantages of living in homestay are: food provided, second home, family- orientated, and the feel of American culture. One of the disadvantages of living in CCA is that students are required to provide their own food but homestay has that advantage. Host-parents are required to provide students three meals a day. Living in a homestay also means that students get to live with an American family and students will sometimes feel like they are the host-parents’ daughter or son. Homestay will help students go through culture shock and feeling homesick. Students under 17 years old need to live in a homestay.

Own housing is for students that do not use International Programs Housing Department’s placement services. Students that find their own housing are older and more experienced with living in the USA. There are nearby apartments in Auburn that students can rent if they are over 18 years old.

All housing options have their pros and cons. Please let us know if you have questions about the housing options for international students. international@greenriver.edu